484 MR. C. B. CLARKE ON THE FERNS OF NORTHERN INDIA. 
Tufted. Frond lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate ; pinnæ 2-12 in.— 4. furcatum, Thunb. ; 
Bedd. Ferns South. Ind. t. 144, differs from A. nitidum by having the main rhachis very 
scaly; it is said (in Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 214) to grow in the Himalaya. There is 
one example of Griffith collected in Assam named at Kew 4. furcatum; but it has the 
main rhachis quite glabrous, and I should call it typical 4. nitidum.. There is also a 
specimen added to Wallich’s example of 4. mysurense under which is written (not in 
Wallich’s hand) ‘‘Sylhet;” but this sheet I call altogether 4. nitidum, the ultimate 
pinne being much broader than in 4. furcatum.—A. laserpitiifolium, Lamk., Bedd. 
Ferns South, Ind. t. 225, differs from A. nitidum by being 3-4-pinnate (rather than 2-3 
pinnate), the ultimate pinne much smaller, and the sori therefore shorter. It is said to 
grow in Assam in Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 214. The North-Indian specimens at Kew 
are A, nitidum for me; and the Burmese examples of Griffith, Kurz, and Brandis are 
also A. nitidum.—Beddome (Ferns Brit. Ind. Suppl. p. 11) says that A. furcatum is 
general in India, and A. laserpitiifolium is found in North India. Whether Col. Bed- 
dome has any evidence (beyond Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil.) that these are North-Indian 
plants I do not know; there is no evidence at Kew: I never found either of them in 
North India, nor have I ever seen them from North India.—As to the synonymy, Hooker 
(in Syn. Fil. iii. 166) refers 4. mysurense, Wall., to A. furcatum ; but Wallich’s name for 
A. furcatum was A. hirsutum (Wall. Cat. 212), from which his 4. mysurense differs by 
having the main rhachis glabrous.— 4. cuneatum f. splendens, as it has been called at 
Kew, is larger than 4. cuneatum, Lamk., type; but I can find no difference whatever 
between it and 4. nitidum. To sum up, the North-Indian A. nitidum, furcatum, and 
laserpitiifolium appear to me one species and one variety ; the southern 4. furcatum and 
A. laserpitiifolium are separable therefrom as varieties, perhaps as species. 
****** Fronds lanceolate, herbaceous or mech, COFSGCBONE ; venation pinnate. 
22. A. roxrANUM, Bernh. in Schrad. Neu. Journ. i.pt.ii.26. Frond elongate-lanceolate, 
narrowed at both ends, the lower pinne reduced, often somewhat remote; pinns 
numerous, pinnate or pinnatifid or toothed.— Engl. Bot. t. 2024; Mett. Farngatt. 
Asp]. 140; Hook. Sp. Fil. iii. 193, Brit. Ferns, t. 34; Bedd. Ferns Brit. Ind. t. 146; 
Milde, Fil. Europ. 70; Hk. & Baker, Syn. Fil. 916. A. Halleri, Willd. Sp. Pl. V. 
274, A. exiguum, Bedd. Ferns South. Ind. t. 146. Aspidium on en Swarta, 
Schk. Krypt. Gew. t.53. —— 
From Kashmir to.Gurwhal, alt. 5000-9000 feet, forent- —Distrib. Nilgherries, Cabul, 
Lycia, South Europe to Britain. 
. Tufted. Stipes numerous, usually green; but there are sometimes a few chestnut- 
coloured stipes growing among numerous green ones. The lower pinne are not always 
deflexed ; nor are the central pinnze invariably sub-2-pinnate, as in the diagnosis of HE 
& Baker. Involucres usually 1 to each secondary pinna, ultimately. large, covering 
nearly the whole segment.—Beddome's figure shows the lowest pinnæ only. slighty 
reduced, but t Cim the cutting) is is no doubt taken from the rue A. fontanum. E 
